Campaigning success for Men United as NICE publish Quality Standard for prostate cancer

Here at Prostate Cancer UK, we’ve been pushing for a Quality Standard in prostate cancer since – well, for a long time now. So it’s great news to see that NICE listened to us, and developed this reference guide for doctors and hospitals so that they know the five most important things they need to do to achieve quality care for men with prostate cancer.

We’re pleased to see some of the standards we set out in our own Quality Checklist reproduced in NICE’s Quality Standard, and we expect hospitals around England to live up to these expectations.

Karen Stalbow, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Prostate Cancer UK said: “This is good news for men affected by prostate cancer. This new standard presents an opportunity to drive long awaited improvements in prostate cancer care in England and gives men a benchmark for the quality of care they should expect to receive.

“We know that men with prostate cancer who have access to a nurse specialist have a better experience and so we’re pleased this has been a focus of the new standard. Specialised services for men who experience life changing side effects as a result of their treatment are also crucial, but currently access to them is patchy across the country. We will be looking to hospitals and local commissioners to take up the standard in order to ensure there is consistency in these services across NHS England, so that every man facing a prostate cancer diagnosis, or living with and beyond the disease, receives and benefits from the best possible care and support.”